Big mountain riders i ask you!

snowbird4life

snowbird4life

Active member
when your on a line, and its exposed and just open and just like a way far look down, do you ever get a feeling like vertigo.

when im on no fall lines, or even you can fall but your way fucked up, i cant even stop and stand there. i get all outta wack and my balance and shit is all fucked up.

kinda like vertigo i guess? (if i have the correct understanding of vertigo)
 
I was in a spot last week where I needed to traverse along some wind ridges below trees and above a cliff. At one point I had to cut into a vertical wall and hang on to a tree above me and wind my way around it. Large drop below, and I'm hanging onto a tree branch, depending on it not to break. Thats the one time I can remember where I had that feeling you were talking about.
 
Is it a similar feeling to one you get skiing an open face in poor visibility? When you cant see the difference between snow and air? If so, you need to try and find something, like a cliff, bumbs, trees, sky, etc to provide depth and definition.
 
ive had that same feeling on some VERY steep sand dunes. like, a huge singular plane, and the world seems to shift positions, and your naturally leanin super far back. its reallllly wierd.
 
i dont think about anything but what i need to do to get down alive, its mad fun, but then i usually just say to myself, well if im gonna do it im gonna then i turn my skis to straight and go, i have never had things feel or look wierd except that sometimes you spend some time questioning if how big the drop infront of you actually is compaired to how big you think it is, and of course i freak out about whether there is rocks under the snow in the landing

 
well of course, everyone does that to charge a line, but i mean just like traversing super sketchy, like absolutely can NOT come off the traverse and just standing above my line i get way disoriented (no vision problems) just feel really off balance, and yes its just fear, but it really throws me off until i just start ripping, then im just fine.
 
I had a cringing feeling when I uncovered some rocks today in a chute, does that count?
 
i get scard every time im on the lip of a jump biger then 30 ft... dose that count cuz its kinda the reason i love skiing so much
 
I get sorta the same feeling skiing up to a drop, feel lightheaded, stomach in throat, little numb. Same thing when I'm skiing chutes/exposed terrain in bad/flat lighting. Not going to lie, I kinda like the rush. Probably an adrenalin surge, it happened to me during my first run of the Lake Louise DH this gear. was about to puke it the start. First race back since knee surgery, and all the airs were sketchy as hell.
 
keep positive and confadent about your skill, do not question your self in mid line, and make sure you got people with you who kno what to do if you get hurt, thats has nothing to do with the feeling, but it helps get rid of it
 
I sometimes get vertigo when I'm skiing in extremely poor visability and can't see the fall-line or even the surface of the snow. It's almost like being sea sick. It get it worst of all on flat groomers.

But if by "exposure" you mean exposed rocks/soil, then no. If I can see such terrain features, I can orientate myself.
 
exposed meaning really out there, just on top of a huge line, and nothing that makes you feel comfortable, your just standing there no trees, just steep ass shit, and it gets bad when im looking down and im lost, i cant find my line, and im trying to find things that i remember when looking from my scoping point.

loosing your line is very scary.
 
I've gotten scared after having lost a line (or having accidentally landed myself in a differnt one), but I've never gotten vertigo. When something goes wrong for me, I usually hear a kind of out-of-body voice that calmly tells me: "Well, now you're fucked." But maybe I've never been in lines as hairy as the ones that caused you to feel vertigo.

Anyhow, your vertigo sounds a little bit like panic, which often occurs when anxiety levels are high and the brain isn't getting enough oxygen. You might want to try taking a few deep breaths (even while continuing to ski) when you get that feeling. Just a guess . . . .
 
I only get nervous when I'm on really sketchy traverses. When I'm skiing a line I'm too focused and moving too fast to pay attention to fear (or logic).
 
I've never felt that with my skis on, but I was hiking to the glacier at Blackcome and walked across this skinny, boot-wide path about 20ft long, and shit started spinning on me. Looking back I should've just skied across the shit and I would've been fine, but I was a little stoney...
 
mid-line i NEVER feel it, its only standing above the line, or during a traverse

once im ripping, (like others said) im way to fucking focused to think about anything else.
 
The first time I hit up Dolphy's up here at Baker, I got a feeling of dread. But then the adrenaline pumped in, and I was stoked. Course I was 13 at the time, so it might've been the hormones.
 
when i look at the gnarly cliffs at bogus it scares the shit out of me.

i also get it, when i look across the hill and see how steep it is.
 
Yeah, that only happens to me when I'm in a white out with no points of reference. Sometimes I get dizzy when trying to take a picture on a steep slope too. But if I'm just skiing and can see, nope, I just get the fear of making the turns, cause you know you've got to do it right or you're goin to the bottom.
 
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